Compassion
Moving on from there, Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a mountain and sat there, and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them. ..."I have compassion on the crowd..." Matthew 15:29, 30, 32 --- Compassion comes from the Latin compati ("to suffer with"), and it is the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral response to recognizing distress in others. Those that were with Jesus at this time were filled with people in distress. The blind, mute, and sick - these the marginalized in society that oftentimes, received no mercy. But Jesus had compassion over them. It is a stark contrast to modern-day, politics-infused faith that oftentimes (at least in my observation) is continually trying to draw a line and pushing "the others" out. The marginalized, the overlooked, those that need mercy instead receive rebuke. Instead of drawing pe...